Category Archives: pdawg

There have been a ton of solid new releases over the past few weeks. Green Day, Grizzly Bear, Band Of Horses, The Killers and Mumford & Sons all have new albums out there definitely worth checking out. But there are two new releases that I keep coming back to for repeat listens.

When I listen to music most of the time I’m looking for great songs or melodies, interesting or meaningful lyrics, and great performances either vocally or from the musicianship on the tracks. The latest releases from Pink and Bon Jovi guitar player Richie Sambora have all of the above on display.

If you’re a guitar player, or if you’ve ever owned or purchased a guitar, you have a story. There’s something romantic about owning a guitar and especially about your very first guitar. It’s kind of equivalent to never forgetting your first kiss.

Julia Crowe captures this feeling beautifully in My First Guitar (published this month by ECW Press). A well-known guitarist herself, Crowe has written numerous columns and feature articles for several international guitar magazines, so she knows her way around a six-string.

Bob Dylan has spent the last decade-and-a-half criss-crossing the world on his ‘never-ending tour’ while releasing four critically-acclaimed albums and one head-scratching holiday record. Next week Dylan releases Tempest, his remarkable 35th studio album and a bold if not brooding statement from a man in his 70’s.

iTunes has been streaming the album all week which has led to tremendous online buzz as well as pronouncements of ‘Dylan’s return to greatness’ and ‘best album since…’ declarations. I won’t pretend to be a Dylan historian or attempt to rank this album within his incredible cannon of work. Instead, let’s just take his latest offering for what it is…an amazing record.

It’s the time of year where parents rejoice and children across the country begin counting the days until summer. Somehow, the back-to-school season is upon us again, and summer 2012 is all but over. Here are BBP’s Top-10 Back ToSchool songs to help you get back to your regular September routine.

Hot For Teacher, Van Halen – ‘What do you think the teacher’s gonna look like this year?’ Diamond David Lee Roth asks on the band’s 1984 hit. I was ten years old when I first heard this track and saw the video. The first day of school was never the same again.

While August has been fairly lacklustre in terms of solid new album releases, there’s a ton of great material on the horizon for Fall 2012. Many artists have released singles from their forthcoming releases and here’s a look at the hits and misses so far.

Green Day, “Oh Love” – If you’d have told me in 1994 that Green Day would be one of the most consistent bands over the next 20 years, releasing hit singles, critically acclaimed concept albums and inspiring a successful Broadway production, I would have suggested that perhaps you took one too many shots of mud to the head during their Woodstock ’94 performance. 65 million albums and multiple Grammy awards later, the San Francisco, California power-trio continues to deliver radio-friendly tracks while somehow maintaining their punk rock credibility. “Oh Love” is the first single from their upcoming trilogy of albums ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! to be released between September and January. The track finds lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong in strong voice delivering a catchy, power-pop anthem that works as both a sing-a-long and arena rocker.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, or at least the group of musicians currently using the name made famous in classic rock circles back in the mid- 1970’s, have a new album titled Last of a Dyin’ Breed out this week. The current lineup features one original member (Gary Rossington on guitar) and singer Johnny Van Zant, little brother of founding member and original lead singer Ronnie who died in the infamous plane crash of 1977. Filling out the current lineup is a host of well-accomplished session and touring musicians as well as former Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5 and original Black Crowes bassist Johnny Colt.

KISS may have released their debut, self-titled album nearly 40 years ago but, it wasn’t until the release of 1975’s ALIVE! live album that the band received mass notoriety beyond being known as the band who wear Japanese Kabuki makeup. ALIVE! captured the spirit and energy of the live KISS experience and introduced the world to the band’s anthem, “Rock And Roll All Nite” which has remained a staple of their live shows ever since.

Hot on the heels of ALIVE! the band headed back to the studio to record their fourth studio album and brought in producer Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd) to guide the ship. The resulting Destroyer album is perhaps KISS’s most successful studio recording and definitely their most ambitious to date.

Back in May when rumours started swirling about changes to the American Idol judging panel we made some suggestions for getting ‘AI’ back on top as the preeminent singing/talent reality shows. You can check out those suggestions here , but basically we were calling for a shakeup on the judging panel and the introduction of some judges with street cred, personality and maybe a little chutzpah along the lines of original judge Simon Cowell or America’s Got Talent (AGT) rookie Howard Stern.

Mariah Carey – YOUR new American Idol judge

Well, Monday the first shoe dropped with confirmation that songstress Mariah Carey will be joining the AI judging panel. While Carey certainly provides Idol an equal, if not greater, level of star power to the departed Jennifer Lopez, I’m not certain she adds much else to the show. Find out why after the jump!Read the rest of this entry →

Last week’s new releases left me feeling completely uninspired, so instead I decided to take a look at the lengths some bands will go to make their fans feel special.

The notion of a fan club is nothing new. Elvis’ manager, Col. Tom Parker, may have invented the pop star fan club back in the 50’s and The Beatles, with the help of business guru Brian Epstein, certainly monetized their fans’ insatiable appetite for all things Beatles. The Liverpudlians merchandised everything from t-shirts and badges to plastic instruments, lunchboxes and mop-top wigs.

As today’s music business struggles to figure out how to make more money, bands have turned to selling loyalty rather than selling music. The tunes themselves are often secondary marketing tools as artists and their management put together fan club membership packages, concert tour experiences and even one-of-a-kind/once-in-a-lifetime merchandise and meet ‘n’ greet opportunities.Read the rest of this entry →

Maroon 5 recently released their fourth studio album, Overexposed, which could be referring to a number of things when it comes to lead singer Adam Levine, who seems to be everywhere these days. From appearing as one of the judges/coaches on the hit TV singing competition, The Voice, to posing tattooed and practically naked in a UK print ad for testicular cancer awareness, Levine is also a regular on the talk-show circuit and one of pop music’s most recognizable frontmen.

In 2011, Levine’s work on The Voice also helped his band achieve one of the biggest crossover hits of the year with “Moves Like Jagger” featuring his TV co-worker Christina Aguilera. The track established a new sound and direction for Maroon 5 who look to build on the funky/pop of “Jagger” on Overexposed.